A conventional steel shell elevator cab is formed with metal sidewalls, a front return panel for housing floor select buttons and various electronics, one or more moveable doors, a strike jamb, headers, a car top, and a rear wall (or rear doors, if specified). The cab is supported on a platform supported by the car frame.
The cab is typically constructed of a series of metal panels. FIG. 13 shows a pair of illustrative panels 10 and 12. Each panel has a pair of "J" bends 14, 16, which are provided along the panel's opposed vertical edges. The "J" bends each include a series of vertical holes. In order to assemble the cab, the holes in one panel are aligned with the holes in an adjacent panel, and the panels 10, 12 are bolted together, e.g., by bolts 18.
In order to avoid having the "J" bends 14, 16 and bolts 18 visible from inside the cab, it is necessary to orient the panels 10, 12 such that these parts face the exterior of the cab. This requires the cab to be assembled from the outside. However, because the cab must normally be assembled on-site, inside the elevator shaft, requiring the cab to be assembled from the outside is often difficult and time consuming. This is true particularly when installing small elevators, where the hoistway clearances tend to be tight.